LENDLEASE UNVEILS NEW VICTORIAN HEADQUARTERS

Minister for Planning Richard Wynne and Lendlease Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Steve McCann have today opened the group’s new Victorian home at One Melbourne Quarter.

Delivering an adaptable workplace hard-wired for employee health and wellbeing, One Melbourne Quarter is home to approximately 400 Lendlease employees who have relocated from three different office locations across Melbourne. Lendlease occupies levels four to six of the 13-storey building, the first commercial tower to be delivered in the 2.5 hectare Melbourne Quarter precinct on Collins Street.

A key feature of the new workplace is access to the first phase of the precinct’s elevated Sky Park, featuring a striking sculptural spiral staircase leading up to the park from Collins Street.

Creating additional community amenity, the wi-fi enabled Sky Park encourages workers to re-charge and work outside. The park’s biophilic design – which refers to design that reflects the natural world – is an essential ingredient in enhancing health and wellbeing.

Lendlease’s new office is centered around the concept of team neighbourhoods of 15 – 20 employees. Allocated desks are eliminated and replaced with centralised team tables to promote a team based working culture and opportunities for immediate feedback, staff connectivity and collaboration.

Employees are free to choose how and where they work. Each neighbourhood has a range of spaces including ‘working walls’ for visual communication, enclosed meeting pods with access to virtual technology, breakaway areas for collaboration and services such as IT help desks on each floor to support high performance.

Lendlease’s commitment to employee health and wellbeing is further demonstrated through the creation of a wellness hub offering discretionary nutrition options, wellness and lifestyle seminars, health checks and group training activities including yoga, pilates and bootcamp.

Additional highlights include a dedicated event space, a high-tech immersion room, a social hub with a barista and interconnecting stairs across the three floors, promoting free movement and social connectedness.

One Melbourne Quarter will be home to approximately 2,500 workers, with design and engineering firm Arup already joining Lendlease, and AMP due to move in early next year.

The building is targeting a 6 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, a 5.5 star NABERS Energy tenancy rating and a WELL New Interiors Certification.

The Lendlease-managed Australian Prime Property Fund Commercial (APPF Commercial) purchased the 26,000sqm One Melbourne Quarter on behalf of its investors in November 2016. APPF Commercial’s strategy is to focus on next-generation assets in precincts with access to green space and strong transport links.

The precinct’s next commercial tower, Two Melbourne Quarter, is currently under construction. The 50,000sqm building is pre-committed by EnergyAustralia and is expected to reach completion in mid-2020.

On completion, more than 50 per cent of the Melbourne Quarter precinct will be dedicated to public open space. Melbourne Quarter has achieved a 6 Star Green Star Communities rating, showcasing world leadership in sustainability.

“One Melbourne Quarter is active demonstration of Lendlease’s integrated model – delivering a workplace that is owned by a Lendlease-managed fund, built by our building business, in a precinct transformed by our urban regeneration business.

“Bringing our Melbourne workforce together in one central location means we’ll be more accessible to our customers while championing excellence, wellbeing and innovation.

“Based on the workplace strategies implemented at our global headquarters in Barangaroo, our new Melbourne location demonstrates greener and healthier ways of working. This creates a workplace that lives and breathes a culture of collaboration and purposeful interactions, providing employees with a sense of belonging.

“Moving into One Melbourne Quarter cements our bricks and mortar commitment to the precinct, while demonstrating our belief in our capacity to create the best places for our employees, customers, the environment and the community.”

Quotes attributable to Minister for Planning Richard Wynne

“The opening of Melbourne’s first Sky Park at Melbourne Quarter has brought an exciting new green public space to the city for residents, visitors and thousands of Victorians who work nearby.

“I want to congratulate Lendlease on its commitment to this bold project, which represents a long-term commercial and residential investment in the area.

“The Melbourne Quarter precinct creates an important gateway, linking Docklands to the CBD, creating thousands of jobs for Victorians both during construction and once complete.

“This is a place where Melburnians will want to visit, live and work.”